Unlikely Heroes
by rogue-scholar07
Summary: Set in the same universe as 'After the Fallout'. When the magical dimension starts falling into chaos, it's up to an unusual group of students to set things right...and hopefully keep their loved ones from getting arrested in the process.
1. Same Old Same Old

**In light of all the terrible next-gen stories floating around this site and the fact that Chibi and I are working on merging our shared stories into one big giant one (which hopefully won't take too long), I decided to write my own next generation AU. This is set in the same universe as 'After the Fallout', 'Unnatural Attractions', and 'We Belong', so I would prefer that you read those before starting this one. There may be a fourth prequel oneshot up soon…or not. I haven't decided yet. **

**In case you weren't aware of it, I don't own the Winx Club franchise nor do I make any profit from publishing this story. **

**Unlikely Heroes**

**Chapter 1: Same Old Same Old **

She scanned the grounds of Alfea, green eyes searching or the people she left behind at the end of last semester. It was rather surreal to think that this would be her last year at college, last year to spend with her dorm-mates and friends. Over the last four years, Alfea became her second home and Semira of Cosmosia wanted to soak up every last second of being in Magix this year.

"Mira!" A female voice called out, causing the senior fairy to look around for the source. "Mira, over here!" She looked up to see a girl with tawny hair and golden eyes trotting toward her.

A smile broke open on her face. Leona, Fairy of Big Cats, was one of the best dorm-mates a fairy could ask for. "Hey, Leo! How was your summer?" Semira asked as the other girl settled in beside her.

"It was fun. Dad took us out to one of the resorts on Andros." Despite what many people thought, Leo loved swimming, especially in cool coastal waters on a hot summer day. "We even caught a glimpse of the royal family while we were there! Did you know their daughter's a sophomore at Cloud Tower? But we were all the way on the other side of the beachfront from them and couldn't say hello or ask her if she knew anyone there we know." She switched from pouty to perky so fast it almost gave Mira whiplash. "How'd your summer go? Did the lady with the vulture hat come back for another reading?"

"Boring, though Mom did start me on the advanced Divination material this year. Even got to do some Tarot readings for some of her customers. And no, the creepy vulture hat lady hasn't been back in the shop." Mira responded. She wouldn't ever be as talented at fortune-telling as her mother, but she was leagues beyond what little was taught about that branch of magic at Alfea. "Didn't your mother go to school with Queen Aisha?"

"Yep. Same year, in fact." The smaller girl nodded, pigtails bobbing in time with the motion of her head. "Same goes for Reva's mum, though I don't think they interacted much. We can look up a yearbook in the library later, if you really want to see it."

"Nah. I'm not that curious." She shrugged and simultaneously cursed whoever saw fit to give them rooms on the third floor once she saw the elevator. An overly-ambitious freshman prankster wrecked it at the tail end of last semester. The girl had been expelled, but the elevator remained in disrepair with bright yellow caution tape and an airtight containment charm around it. "Have you seen the others yet?"

"I think I saw Reva pass through check-in when I arrived, but since the girl's back was turned it could have been another redhead. We got a freaking bumper crop of them last year." Leo commented. "Haven't seen any sign of Bee yet, but she could have gotten here super early this year. Have you heard from the guys or Adia?"

"Luc had just made it through dorm check-in when I got here. Coda and Zee were with him, but no sign of Egon yet." The blonde remarked as the pair trudged up the stairs. Her 'cousin' Lucien was a lavender-haired senior at Red Fountain with a specialty in water and ice based magic. Xenon—Zee for short—was the brunet half-elf son of Professors Palladium and Avalon and spent two years at Oskuria University before transferring to Red Fountain. Prince Egon of Domino (a proud young man with auburn hair and green eyes) and Coda of Melody (snarky and highly intelligent raven-haired boy) rounded off the squad. "Haven't heard from Adia, but since she lives here in Magix, I don't think she was in any big rush to get to Cloud Tower on time this morning."

"Fair point." Leo shrugged. "It also gives her plenty of time to think up ways of repaying that psyche ward escapee she calls a roommate for putting slugs in her underwear drawer on check-out day."

"Yeah, I almost forgot about that." Semira frowned. Adia was a year behind them in her scholastic career but the witch managed to somehow work her way into their merry band of misfit fairies and specialists. As a result, Adia's roommate sought to 'punish' her for associating with 'the enemy', and the green-haired witch generally spent more time in the empty single-occupant room in their dorm than she did in her own dorm room. "Remind me to ask her if she needs help plotting revenge once we finish unpacking."

"Fine, but leave me out of the plotting." The brunette shuddered. "You two are scary once you get going, and Bee's not much better."

"Comes from having a witch as a parent." Semira smirked proudly. She might wear a sparkly outfit and fly on sheer wings, but she felt just as comfortable inside Cloud Tower as she did at Alfea or Red Fountain.

"Speaking of your mom, did she and that dude you really like move past the awkward 'best friend' stage yet?"

"Who, Timmy?" Mira blinked. Leo nodded eagerly for her to continue, so she did. "They've apparently been dating since a couple weeks after spring break and just didn't think to mention it to me. But I can't complain much, I guess. It's about time someone showed some interest in her for her and not her psychic readings. And Timmy's really cool in a geeky sort of way."

"Good. I'm glad they finally got their act together. Watching them avoid the subject was getting annoying." The feline fairy acknowledged as they finally reached their floor. Their dorm, second door on the left, already showed signs of someone moving around in it. The pair eagerly guided their trunks through the door and met one of their two remaining roommates in the living room area.

If one looked up the phrase 'fairy princess' in a dictionary, then Bianca's picture would sit right next to the definition. Curly metallic blonde hair fell to the small of her back with a few strands spilling over her shoulders. A red tank top covered her torso, complementing her white pencil skirt and silver flat shoes. Excited amber eyes stared back at the two approaching fairies, though her expression remained carefully neutral. "What took you two so long?"

"Sorry, we mere peasants don't get the VIP treatment during check-in." Semira drawled as she sent the suitcase into the bedroom she shared with the other blonde. "Though I don't know how in Shadowhaunt I got here ahead of Reva. We live on the same damn planet, for Dragon's sake!"

"Guess she got delayed once she made it to Magix City." Leo shrugged, moving toward her room. "At any rate, we'd better unpack so the dorm doesn't look like a clothing bomb went off in here when Adia shows up tonight."

"Don't you mean _if_ Adia shows up?" Bianca raised a perfectly sculpted blonde eyebrow. "She could decide to stay in her own dorm tonight."

"After the crazy bug lady put slugs in her underwear drawer at the end of last term?" Semira folded her arms across her chest. "No. I would bet money on her sleeping in her bed here and commuting to class this semester."

"Who's commuting where?" A confused voice sounded from the hallway door, causing the trio to turn and face the interloper. She was a small redhead with brown almond-shaped eyes and pale skin.

"We thought maybe you were, since you weren't here when I showed up." Mira teased. "What took you so long to get here, anyway?"

"My mother, go figure." The girl rolled her eyes. "But seriously, when did Alfea allow commuter students?"

"They didn't. Adia will be commuting from here to Cloud Tower, according to Mira." Leo shook her head. "Come on, Reva, get with the program."

"Kinda hard to do when I don't know what's on the darn thing." The redhead pointed out. "Do we know if Adia got back at the nasty slug chick yet?"

"Why did the bint even think that would bother her in the first place?" Bianca scoffed. "Adia's the witch of Fear. A few garden slugs aren't more than a minor annoyance to her."

"As I said on the walk here, psychiatric ward escapee." Leona rolled her eyes. "But seriously, let's at least confine the mess to our own rooms this year, kay? I don't want her to think we're slobs."

"She's known us for three years; I think it's a moot point by now." Reva said. "But I would like to unpack before we go off for our annual invasion of Red Fountain, so why don't we get started on that?"

"Good point; let's get going." Mira nodded.

Adia wasn't sure how in Shadowhaunt she managed to make friends with a group of fairies one grade above her, but she knew it was all Xenon's fault. The damn half-elf could be downright devious when he wanted to be, and setting her up with her group of best friends (minus Zee, naturally) showcased that particular trait rather well.

Not that she necessarily minded the other girls. Bee and Mira possessed as much sass and snark as the best witches, Leo livened up parties, and Reva made a good research buddy. But being friends with them openly meant that the entirety of Cloud Tower knew she ran with a group of fairies. This might not have caused a problem if her assigned roommate hadn't thought them inferior and Adia useless as a witch for having a fairy for a parent. If Mum had heard about that, she'd have invaded the school and hexed Telsea's body hair off, but since Adia didn't want to cause any more social awkwardness for herself than she already did, she kept her mouth shut about the teasing and pranking while at home. Even with the stress of dealing with a mildly psychotic roommate, she was at the top of her class and intended to stay there—something that wouldn't happen if the rest of the school decided to turn against her.

One of the advantages of living in Magix itself was the ability to arrive at dorm check-in whenever the hell you felt like it, and by the time she made it through the front gates, Telsea had already vacated their shared room to go hang with her 'crew' as she called them. Ha! Most pathetic excuse for a coven she'd ever seen! At least she didn't have to deal with them. If she actually were required to sleep in her dorm room every night, she might wind up committing homicide before the end of the fall term. Not that she found the pink castle across the woods from them aesthetically pleasing, but at least she didn't have to worry about people doing things to her stuff while she slept. Sometimes her warding and shield charms just weren't enough to keep Telsea out. She doubled up on them anyway after she unpacked half her belongings. The other half would reside in her room (her very own room!) in the girls' dorms at Alfea.

She suspected that the only reason Headmistress Griffin allowed her to do this under the other students' noses was because there wasn't really anywhere else to put her. Once covens formed and solidified in second year, the girls comprising those covens were normally housed together. Unless, of course, you didn't find a coven. Then you were shoehorned into the same room as an existing group. The third and fourth year groups were completely set, but due to the large number of students in those years, all the upper year dorms were filled to capacity. The other covens were four or five member groups and thus had no extra beds to spare, and since she didn't feel like mingling with sophomores for the rest of the term unless something really terrible happened, Adia resolved to tough it out with Telsea, Phoebe, and Janice until graduation.

Shrinking her remaining belongings and stuffing them into her purse, Adia left Cloud Tower and headed toward Red Fountain to meet the others.

Over at Red Fountain, a squad of Specialists unpacked their things. They were an odd squad, given that one of them transferred from Oskuria Wizarding University and another was supposed to be a year below his teammates. Not that any of the four actually thought much about it; Xenon Avalon of Magix held his own as a fighter and Coda of Melody ranked high enough on the genius scale to skip a grade and join the rest of his squad in most of their classes. Egon of Domino thought the two were awesome to have on the team and a great tactical advantage, while Lucien of Earth felt relieved to have another magic user on the squad.

"Aw, look, the little prince returned for another year!" Lucien smirked as Egon began the process of hanging up his clothes. "Get to run off any more princesses lately?"

A chuckle escaped the auburn-haired boy's mouth. "No, I think my parents have finally given up on finding a bride for me on their own. I don't see why they feel she has to be a princess."

"She doesn't." Coda snorted as he put away the last of his socks. "While some realms do have a clause regulating the social status of the royal heirs' spouses, Domino isn't one of them."

"Oh, so they're just being unnecessarily picky? Lovely." Egon rolled his eyes.

"You could always ask one of our dear girls out just to spite them." Lucien pointed out. "A couple of them would jump at the chance to help you piss off your parents."

"Ask Reva and they'll never find your body." Xenon glared at the young prince of Domino.

"Okay, first off Reva is yours and you two are too cute together for me to break you up. Second and most importantly, she'd never agree to it anyway." Egon said. "Although Bianca…"

"Will hex your testicles off." Coda said. "Besides, I thought you didn't want a princess?"

"Point. She is the sole heir to the throne of Isis." Lucien added. "Mira or Adia might go along with this stupid plan if you ask very nicely and promise not to grope them on your 'date'. They love pranks."

"I'll ask them over lunch then." The prince smirked. "Adia would be the ideal date simply because she's a witch and Dad has a legit phobia of them, but Semira would be good too."

"I can see it now, 'Prince of Domino seen out with King Sky of Eraklyon's bastard daughter'." Coda draped one arm over his roommate's shoulders while pulling the other through the air as if conjuring a sign. "I think it's safe to say both of your dads will have kittens after that."

"Given that he won't even let me spend a weekend with him over the summer break, I think he deserves it." Everyone but Xenon—who had been facing her at the time—jumped at the sudden appearance of Semira's voice. She casually leaned against the doorframe, a bored expression on her face.

"Mira. You got here early." Lucien winced. She wasn't supposed to hear about that. "Egon hasn't finished unpacking yet."

"We're not early; he's unfashionably late." Bianca frowned as she sauntered into the room. "Leave your stuff where it is; we're going to lunch."

"Yes, drill sergeant, ma'am!" Coda offered a mock solute, earning a heated glare from the blonde princess.

"Behave, you two. I don't need your banter getting us kicked out of my favorite diner." Leo mock scolded the two. "I swear you two act like a married couple!"

"And they're not even dating." Lucien added, only to be smacked on the back of the head by Coda.

"Not funny, dude."

"Can we pause the bickering long enough to grab a burger somewhere?" Adia asked from the doorway. "If we don't leave now, we'll be stuck waiting half an hour for a table."

"That would suck." Egon stated as he stuffed his suitcase into the floor of the boys' shared closet. "Come on, I'll tell you about our next great prank idea over lunch."

"Ooh, a prank." Semira smirked as the group walked out of the door. "Count me in."

"You don't even know who they're pranking yet!" Leo groaned.

"From the sound of it, the man who sired me is somehow involved, so I'm totally cool with it." The green-eyed blonde smiled back at her friend. "Now, on to Magix City!"


	2. True Happenings

**Just a reminder that the most of the characters here are mine, but the locations belong to Rainbow and Winx Club. **

**Unlikely Heroes**

**Chapter 2: True Happenings**

The magical dimension saw an unprecedented era of peace these last few years. Ever since two out of three Trix witches vanished into obscurity and Stormy was captured five years ago in a robbery, there hadn't been much by way of big villains to deal with. Even the war on Eraklyon was finally winding to a close, something few Eraklyonites thought they'd ever live to see.

But something stirred the edges of the dimension. Pirates and mercenaries increased their attacks over the last few months and adopted an unprecedented level of violence to do so. Some 'fringe' worlds experienced unusual weather patterns, leading to famines the likes of which the planets hadn't seen before. And the strange weather was spreading from the outside in. Animals and people on the affected planets began acting strange, more aggressive and cruel toward outsiders and each other. Ethologists failed to determine the cause, aside from noting that the symptoms meshed with what humans experienced after exposure to dark energy.

Something was coming, but no one yet knew what it was or what it meant for the magical dimension as a whole other than something new to discuss on the realm-wide news stations.

"So, did you guys hear about that drought on Vega prime?" Xenon asked. He and the others had long since finished dinner and adjourned to a local park to catch up and discuss plans for the coming semester.

"Yeah. Weird weather they're having," Semira replied. The droughts or freak ice storms had been all over the news on Cosmosia. "It's odd that so many fringe planets have been affected by weird weather at one time."

"And in so many ways," Bianca put in. "Kathor's been under a drought too, but it's not because of the weather. No matter how much they water or shade or sun their plants, none of the crops are growing. It's like the soil's given up on them."

"I heard Outcastus is under a blizzard watch this week," Coda said. "I don't know what exactly the cause was, but people are fleeing it and Altair _en masse_."

"Why are we discussing this anyway?" Adia said. "This shit is why planets have Guardians. Let them or the famous Winx Club deal with it."

"The Winx Club hasn't spoken to each other in civil tones in nearly two decades." Coda rolled his eyes. "They don't even try for reunions anymore because of how awkward things have gotten. By the way, Mira, Dad said to tell your mom they'd meet her and Timmy at seven."

"Wait, wait, hold up." Bianca frowned, her hand held palm out in front of her. "Mira, how would your mother's boyfriend know Coda's parents? They're famous and she's just a fortune teller." Granted, she managed to bed King Sky of Eraklyon at some point, but the woman wasn't Winx Club famous.

"So is Timmy, albeit not as much due to the fact that he prefers to work behind the scenes," Semira said, deciding to ignore the 'just a fortune teller' comment. She wasn't about to blow her mom's cover over stupid comments like that. She'd survived four years of stupidity at Alfea; with any luck, she'd keep the streak alive well beyond graduation. "He and Coda's dad were squadmates; I think they're the only ones still talking to each other."

"Sometimes we have to deal with Brandon or Sky, but that's more out of business than friendship." Coda shrugged. "Mom only talks to Aisha and Tecna anymore, and that's not very often."

"Okay, so the Winx Club isn't going to have a twenty-year reunion. Big whoop," Lucien drawled. "There's still no reason why the planetary Guardian Fairies haven't started looking into the odd weather on the fringe worlds."

"It's so easy to forget you were raised on Earth." Leona shook her head. "The fringe worlds, by and large, don't have Guardians of any sort. They're small realms with small populations and small amounts of magic. If whatever this is hadn't started inching its way into the heart of the magical dimension, it would have gone ignored for years."

"Maybe it already has been," Xenon mused. "Think about it. If this thing hadn't effected worlds like Outcastus, it wouldn't have warranted a footnote in Magix' news coverage."

"Be that as it may, it's still not any of our business," Adia stated. "None of us are going to be Guardians once we graduate. The only ones coming close are Egon and Bianca, and their realms are in the heart of the magical dimension. The adults will have this mess sorted out long before you two graduate."

"It would still make a killer topic for our final project board in Herbology and Ecology this year, though," Reva commented. "The headmistress said we could do a group project as long as we split the work, and it's something way more interesting than finding new uses for switchweed in potions."

"That it would." Mira nodded. "Might be a little more difficult on the research side due to how recent it is, but it's do-able. Think Griselda would give us bonus points if we turned it into a tri-school collaboration and brought the rest of the gang into it?"

"Cordatorta would as long as we visited one of the affected planets." Egon shrugged. "Dad would be pissed that we picked such a dangerous project, but dangerous ones tend to get higher grades even if it's not a total success."

"It's the risk-reward ratio," Coda pointed out. "A higher risk project, especially one with so little data to work from, will garner a higher grade as a half success as long as the results are recorded properly and reasons for the potential failures are listed. A 'safe' project usually flunks because of carelessness on the part of the students undertaking it rather than outside influences, and is subject to harsher grading."

"Anybody ever tell you you're a walking encyclopedia?" Bianca asked, a fond smile on her lips.

"Lucien does all the time, but he doesn't gripe half as much when it's time to write up reports." Coda smirked as the lavender-haired boy cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment.

"Do you guys really think we can make this project work?" Adia asked. She knew better than to think she wouldn't get dragged into it and hoped Griffin would let her graduate a year early if they managed to make this hare-brained project work. She was working a grade above her supposed year level; that _had_ to count for something.

"I don't see why not." Mira pursed her lips in thought. "And with all of us working together, it'll be easier to delegate the research. That part should be more or less finished by fall midterms, I think."

"How do we want to split it up and what do we want to call it?" Bianca sighed.

"Effects of negative energy on realm ecology and ethology?" Xenon offered. "My dads might have some books on the subject, but I'm not sure. It's not really either of their specialties."

"My mom has one or two on it, I think." Lucien frowned. "What about you, Mira?"

"She might; I'd have to ask her. But, even if she doesn't, one of us can go with Adia and raid Cloud Tower's library. They're bound to have something about it." Her green eyes flickered in her friend's direction. Adia sighed.

"It's gonna have to be you or Bianca; you're the only ones who can out-snark the seniors."

"My mother's an alumnus; it'd be damn sad if I couldn't out-snark someone my own grade level." Semira huffed.

"We'll sort that part out when we've exhausted the usual sources." Leo waved her hand in lazy swishing patterns. "I'm more concerned with the practical part of this assignment. We're gonna need to collect soil, vegetation, and animal fecal samples from affected planets to make this work."

"Cordatorta should let us bum a space-ship and some weapons, but most of the supplies will need to come from us." Egon frowned. "We'll need to plan our entrance and escape months in advance, and start hoarding supplies and clothes before then."

"That's all well and good, but what planets should we hit up? We're gonna need more than one to get a good grade," Reva remarked.

"Outcastus, for sure," Adia put in. "It's the safest and largest of the group, so we'd get more variety with our samples. After that…I don't know. Altair's in the same system, but maybe we should do something a little farther out and go with Vega prime or Scylla?"

"We'll work that out when we start looking at older case studies," Coda spoke. "Odds are at least one other person's done a project like this before and has published results in a journal somewhere. They'll have a better idea of which planets to sample."

"In the meantime, we'll pitch the idea to our headmasters and see if they approve it," Bianca said. "I don't think they'd say no, but we still need their approval before we get too far into research mode."

"Guess that's our new plan for this weekend, then." Lucien shrugged. "And here I was hoping to hit up a club or two downtown…"

"You wouldn't go on your own and we both know it," Mira teased. "But you can go after we get done studying if you really want to."

"And risk breaking curfew? No thanks." He shook his head. "Maybe over the break we can do something not school-related." Because he knew damn well this project would eat up the vast majority of their free time over the next two semesters. They deserved a break, even if it wound up being just a tiny one.

"If we're travelling anyway, we may as well visit everyone's home realms," Adia drawled. "Zee and I live here in Magix, but it would be nice to see where everyone else is for a change."

"There's not that much to my part of Earth, but I guess we could use it as a training camp before our expedition," Lucien told her. "It would at least get us prepped for the Outcastus blizzard."

"So we'll do that one last and focus on the other realms." Reva shrugged. "Cosmosia's a bit of a tourist trap, but it's home. Mira and I are from different cities, but the planet's small enough that commuting between houses won't be a problem."

"Can't say the same for Domino, but there's plenty of room in the palace for you guys to crash, and I'm betting Isis has a similar set-up?" He raised a questioning eyebrow at Bianca, who shrugged.

"Mother shouldn't have a problem with you guys staying as long as you don't break anything too expensive."

"So that just leaves Melody and Malkin (1), both of which have cheap motels and/or campsites available for us." Leo deduced. "We could even stay at one of Malkin's nature preserves and get a feel for camping near predatory wildlife if we wanted."

"Okay, so Malkin and Earth are last on our dimension-wide tour, and we can figure out the rest closer to the break," Xenon noted. "Not that planning every detail of our next year isn't interesting and all, but can we find a new subject?"

"Not unless you have stories about embarrassing freshmen blunders or inside info on the dance theme this year." Bianca shook her head. "We already went over the 'how was your summer' spiel and I have no interest in revisiting the topic."

Reva shrugged. "Well, if you're going to be that way, then you won't mind if Mira and I use you guys as test subjects for Divination, will you?"

"I have my cards on me." The blonde fairy of shadows shrugged. She didn't have quite the sixth sense her mother possessed, but she was good enough to get an accurate reading. "It won't take long and we don't bite." She grinned at her best friend, who sighed in annoyance.

"Fine, but try to keep the commentary on my love life to a minimum, 'kay? I don't need a bunch of playing cards telling me how useless I am at it."

"I only say what the cards show me." Mira leveled the other blonde with a glare. "Now, pick your fortune teller and let's get this show on the road."

Fortune telling remained as popular as ever on Cosmosia. Its prevalence helped her and Reva with the decision to pick Divination as an elective, because even if they didn't have the Sight, they could help decode vague predictions and spot fake ones at a glance by the time they graduated. Reva, as a fairy with star-based powers, excelled at the astrology aspect of the course and could make tarot readings with respectable accuracy. She, daughter of a well-respected fortune teller, already knew a lot of tricks and was one of the best tarot readers in their year. Neither of them boasted much accuracy in palmistry, which had given them fits since it was introduced last year.

"I'll never understand why you two needed an elective class to learn this." Lucien shook his head. "I'd have thought Mira's mom would've taught you all you wanted to know."

"If she weren't constantly booked with appointments, I'm sure she would have jumped at the chance," Reva commented as she smoothed her consecrated mat across the top of the grass. "But since she can't, we took the elective. It's an easy pass for us so even if we do poorly in another subject, our GPAs aren't shot six ways to Shadowhaunt."

"But she can probably squeeze in a beginner's session for you if you're still interested by the time the semester break rolls around." Semira smiled at her 'cousin', who pouted and folded his arms across his chest in response.

"I think I'll pass on it, thanks."

"You do that; I want to see how it's done." Adia crawled closer to the two Cosmosian fairies in order to get a better view of the cards.

"And your moms won't get upset with you for looking into a foolish and inaccurate con-man's magic?" Xenon asked. The green-haired witch snorted.

"What Mom doesn't know won't get me grounded, and Mama's intuitive enough to know I'd have looked into it as soon as I got out of the house anyway."

"You know, it's weird that in the four years we've known each other, we've never been introduced to each other's parents." Coda frowned. "I mean, Xenon's dads teach classes at Alfea, so some of you've met them, but the rest of us? I only met Mira's mom through Timmy, and I wouldn't have if they hadn't started dating."

"It is odd, I suppose." Leo sighed. "But it's not like the colleges offer parents days, or that they'd be off work if the schools scheduled them."

"True. Mine and Egon's definitely wouldn't find time for it, and Semira's sire barely acknowledges her existence outside of paying her school tuition." Bianca inspected her ruby-red manicure.

"I don't know that my mom would to come to Magix if they offered a parents' day." Lucien exhaled. "She had a good reason to move to Earth's arctic regions and away from the magical dimension as a whole."

Mira nodded. "Either way, we'll be seeing her when we do our dimension-wide tour later in the year. Think there's enough room for us to crash at your place for a couple nights?"

"A few may end up on the floor, but it'll work." He shrugged.

"This, my friend, is why man invented the inflatable mattress." Coda smirked. "We'll be fine."

* * *

><p>As any alumni knew, Cloud Tower possessed a consciousness all its own and sometimes re-arranged the classrooms and passageways to fit its perceived needs. This occurred not because of the high levels of magic saturating the building, else Oskuria Wizard's Academy, Red Fountain, and Alfea College campuses would have faced similar problems. Unlike the other campuses, Cloud Tower's main facility consisted not of brick, wood, and glass, but of the living, breathing tissues of one of the largest and oldest species of magical fungi in existence. The building could think and feel and knew the magical signature of anyone who'd ever passed through its outer membranes.<p>

Alumni also knew that the fungus played favorites. It usually acted the most 'helpful' to witches with plant or animal-based abilities, but sometimes chose a seemingly random freshman to watch.

Princess Niobe of Andros had been last year's favorite, which surprised her given how her powers seemed tailor-made to draw from the oceans. Mushrooms tended to avoid beaches and salt water on the whole. Yet, the building liked her, offering her shortcuts when the other girls stole her maps—and places to cry in private during bouts of homesickness. She hadn't needed a cry space since fall of last year, but she suspected the building would offer it if she asked.

She finished unpacking the last of her luggage, not that there was much of it. She brought, perhaps, a quarter of what she owned for this trip and even that stretched the truth a bit. Not many witches cared about how fancy the gowns of the Androsian royal court wore. Most times she didn't care, but Grandmum insisted on them 'for proper decorum', so she had a whole fleet of the stupid things on standby. Mum tried her best to keep a 'normal' wardrobe ready for use, but Niobe's taste in clothing differed from hers enough to make most of what her mother chose unappealing. She packed it anyway, though, because her roommate was all about the athletic chic look and had taken to looting her closet last year for workout clothes. As long as word didn't get back to Mum that she wasn't wearing the clothes, Niobe didn't much care what Leanne 'borrowed' as long as the items were laundered prior to their reappearance in her closet. There were three or four outfits she would wear to her classes, a dress should a dance or date cross her path, and a few sets of sleepwear; more than enough to keep her satisfied through the school year.

It was more than she could say for the girls in the other half of the suite.

She'd lucked out with her roommate and knew it. Leanne hailed from a neutral family on Cumulus and thus didn't hold anyone's heritage against them. Magic was magic, after all; some people just channeled it differently than others. However, the two girls across the hall did not share that sentiment and had taken to passive-aggressively sniping at the other two. They weren't brave enough to do anything bold, like put itching powder in her sheets or hair dye in her shampoo. Whether they liked it or not, she was the sole heir to the throne of Andros and her accusations tended to carry quite a bit of weight around here. What might only earn them detention with another student could get them expelled if her family got wind of it.

"I know it could be a lot worse with those two, but it's almost enough to make me request a transfer for the two of us." She sighed. Leanne looked at her from over the top of the Runes text in her hands, head cocked to the left side.

"Yeah, but who'd want to room with us? None of the other sophomores care too much for us; between Piper and the older girls backing her up, we're just a step above that one Junior girl. And that's only because we don't have friends at Alfea."

"Which is just so flipping stupid I don't know where to start," she groused. "Let her make friends with whoever she wants. I heard those girls are seniors and willing to help with her homework."

"Candle magic still not working for you?"

"Not in the slightest. And it might never; there's no real tips on how to manipulate aspects of an opposite but equal element in the non-restricted section of our library."

"Witches are the worst damn knowledge hoarders in the dimension. Worse than the Ohm monks, even," Leanne said. "Must be some kind of word of mouth thing with the hereditary witches, otherwise none of them would pass their classes."

"Fat lot of good it does me." Niobe flopped bonelessly onto her four-poster bed. "And I don't think the teachers will help much besides telling me to try harder. By the Dragon, I just want to pass the damn practical in the Elemental Magic course this year without Piper sabotaging my project. Was that too much to ask?"

She felt the magic shift before she saw it. A subtle hum, a tingle on her arms, the steady-beating heart increasing its vibrations—and that was all before the room made a decided tilt to the right diagonal before righting itself.

"What the hell was that?" Leanne asked.

"I don't know! The castle's never done that before!" She groaned. "You don't think…"

"I think it really likes you and sometimes goes overboard. Remember the crystal crisis?"

"How could I forget?" She murmured. In the week before her Runes and Divination finals last year, her working crystals all went missing. After three hour scouring the dorms, she and Leanne thought they were lost for good, another casualty in her roommate's crusade against fairy-born witches. It likely would have been, if the castle hadn't lead the pair down a hallway they knew didn't belong on their floor and into an entire storage closet full of crystals. "But surely this isn't…The castle doesn't just move half a dorm room around!"

"Nia, the castle seems to do whatever it damn well pleases." Her roommate folded her arms across her chest. "The only way to know what it pleases this time is to open the door and find out."

Steeling her nerves, she turned the knob and peeked out into the living area. It looked much the same as she left it, aside from one minor detail. "I think a name got dropped off the other dorm's occupant list."

"Only you can be so formal when saying someone got kicked out." Leanne shook her head and placed her textbook on the nightstand. "May as well see who it is." They crossed the space together, both glancing around for traps and feeling ridiculous for it. The castle liked Niobe; it wouldn't let her fall into a trap if it could prevent it. Once they saw the name on the other door, the pair frowned. "Last I remember there was no 'Adia' in this dorm." Leanne narrowed her olivine eyes at the plaque.

"There's only one 'Adia' in the whole school." She wanted nothing more than to hide under her bed and stay there for a week or two. How in Shadowhaunt had she managed _this_?


End file.
